According to the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, inequality and discrimination are the foundation of the continuum of violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment, which for too long has been normalized, justified and made invisible.

In 2019, the Parliament of Georgia adopted landmark legislation that establishes regulations for the response to sexual harassment. In light of the new regulations, UN Women is supporting the Government in strengthening the national response to sexual harassment.

UN Women places high priority on there being a gender-sensitive and discrimination-free corporate culture and work environment at the organizations with which it partners on various projects focused on women’s empowerment.

The Gender Equality Council of the Parliament, with support from UN Women and the USAID-funded East-West Management Institute’s PROLoG, organized a meeting for the MPs, staffers and colleagues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Public Defender’s Office (PDO).

The global #MeToo campaign, sexual harassment in the workplace and in public spaces, and prevention and regulation concerning sexual harassment have been receiving increasing attention among various stakeholders, including the private sector, in Georgia.

What is sexual harassment in the workplace? How can be sexual harassment captured by means of photography? What ethical considerations should be taken into account when working on such sensitive issue? How to technically capture and edit a picture, so that it talks directly and unambiguously to the viewer? These and other questions were discussed at a workshopheld at the outskirts of the Tbilisi Photo Festival.

The Ministry of Defence of Georgia (MoD) is working towards adopting a set of procedures that will outline how to make and handle complaints about unacceptable behaviour, including bullying, sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, domestic violence and sexual abuse. It is the next step in the implementation of the internal MoD Gender Equality Strategy adopted in 2013.

With the support of UN Women, four line ministries in Georgia plan to pilot an online course on sexual harassment for all staff. The hope is that the course, which focuses on building awareness, advocatingprevention and creating empathy with victims, will in the future become mandatory for all public servants and break the silence surrounding sexual harassmentin the workplace.